Divorce Lawyer Mount Vernon NY: Protecting Your Rights

Divorce is emotionally and financially overwhelming; however, a New York divorce attorney can guide you through it. At the Law Offices of SRIS, P.C., we offer comprehensive, sympathetic legal representation responsive to your unique needs. With years of experience, our divorce lawyer Mount Vernon NY strives to provide you with personalized guidance to help you navigate through the often grueling experience of divorce and bring you into an ideal position. Let us assist you in taking the first step forward.

Which Divorce Process is Right for You?

Divorce is a complicated, and bitter, legal process that wears on the psyche. Getting the right understanding of one’s options and choosing correctly will ease the process. Here are some important things to consider when choosing between the different types of divorces:

Contested vs. Uncontested Divorce

• Uncontested Divorce: Most of the major issues, including property division, child care, and spousal support, are settled by mutual agreement between parties. In fact, it requires almost negligible judicial involvement and may be achieved with very few disputes taken to court.
• Contested Divorce: Serious conflict between either spouse or spouses as concerns divorce exists. The procedure involved is more adversary in nature at times, and this even necessitates court interference in some situations.

Collaborative Divorce vs. Mediation

• Collaborative Divorce: Typically agreed and acceptable to all parties involved, the spouses and their attorneys will usually agree on a non-adversarial approach to resolving their case through mutual agreement. A process like this often engenders open communication, cooperation, and coordination of sensible goals and solutions that work for everyone involved in the process.
• Mediation: In the presented case, a third party, whose nature is impartial, helps the parties in communicating one another to settle a deal with an effective negotiation toward settlement agreement. If needed, a third party makes third parties give guidelines which can help third parties while making decisions.

What Are the Grounds for Legal Separation in Mount Vernon, New York?

New York divorce law allows either spouse to file for legal separation. To file for separation, one or more of the following grounds must be cited:

• Cruel treatment: This includes physical or emotional abuse.
• Abandonment: Abandonment is when one of the spouses leaves the marital home without such a justification and with no intention to return.
• Failure to provide support: One of the partners fails to fulfill his or her obligations to the other partner.
• Adultery: One of the spouses has sex with someone else.
• Imprisonment: One spouse goes to jail for more than three years in succession after the marriage.

What Are the General Steps in a New York Divorce?

Here’s a general overview of the divorce process in Mount Vernon, New York:

Filing the Complaint:

• The divorce process is initiated by one spouse by drafting a summons and complaint that he or she files with the county clerk.
• The grounds for divorce are then elaborated and narrated in the complaint, such as irretrievable breakdown, adultery, cruelty, and many more.
• This also puts on paper the relief requested in the dissolution proceeding, including child custody, property distribution, and alimony, to mention but a few.

Serving the Other Spouse:

• Second, the summons must be served, by the petitioner, to the other spouse or respondent.
• This is more or less a matter of personal service but, under some circumstances will have some exceptions.

Response and Discovery:

• The respondent needs to answer the complaint within an agreed upon time.
• If there is any controversy between the parties, they can proceed to discovery, whereby they expose and share their respective financial records and other documents appropriately to the case.

Preliminary Conference:

• The court may schedule a preliminary conference to discuss the case, set deadlines, and encourage settlement.

Settlement Negotiations:

• Both parties may attempt to reach a settlement agreement outside of court, often with the help of a Mount Vernon divorce lawyer or mediators.

Trial (if necessary):

• If the parties fail to agree, the case will be taken to court for trial.
• Hence, the decisions on child custody, visitation, child support, spousal support, and property distribution in the cases will be determined by the trial judge after allowing the parties to present evidence.

Judgment of Divorce:

• All of the issues will have been resolved by the courts, which will then issue a final judgment of divorce that officially ends the marriage.

It is highly recommended that you consult with a divorce lawyer Mount Vernon NY for personalized advice and guidance.